Design of Articles
The articles to be discussed dwell on the issues of multicultural education, namely the article by Eteokleous and Christodoulou (2010) “The process of multicultural education in a centralized and homogeneous educational system” focuses on the problem of homogeneity, multiculturalism, and interculturalism in primary schools of Cyprus.
The authors represent the rationale for their research in the introductory part, mention the research purpose and focus of the study, outline the theoretical framework in terms of multiculturalism, interculturalism, curriculum that reflects multicultural issues, and multiculturalism and official policies.
Besides, the authors of the article provide context of the study by reviewing the peculiarities of Cypriot educational system and the official position of the Ministry of Education of Cyprus. The research methodology section is logically divided into subsections providing information concerning research characteristics, participants of the research, and data collection instruments.
The results of research are reflected in an appropriate section that contains data about demographics concerning the schools and teachers, formal framework that exists related to issues of multiculturalism and education principles and the informal framework.
Another important feature that is demonstrated in the article is the implementation of multicultural education in Cypriot classes, discussion of the implementation techniques, and further suggestions on the issue.
The article by Bigelow, Wesely, and Opsahl (2009), “Multicultural education in a K-12 modern language department: Reconciling the professional development experience” enlarges on the necessity of understanding professional development in terms of multicultural issues and changes to be made in curriculum design.
The beginning of the article, which is not labeled provides a rationale for research and the basic concepts to be discussed. The authors investigate the role and experience of teachers in foreign language (FL) classes with regard to the multicultural issues in the background section of the study.
The methodology section is logically divided into several parts that reflect the type of research, setting, provide an outline of the initiative concerning changes to be made in the multicultural curriculum with regard to the phases of the procedure. Roles of authors and description and analysis of participants of the research were clearly explained as well as data collection and data analysis procedures.
Teacher engagement and learning experience with regard to school agenda and goals of the language department were reflected in the discussion section of the article. Besides, authors find it necessary to indicate the position and attitude of teachers regarding their origin (native speakers and non-native speakers). Conclusion demonstrates a summary of the purposes and findings of the investigation.
Summary of Rationale
The Eteokleous and Christodoulou (2010) “The process of multicultural education in a centralized and homogeneous educational system” is aimed at exploring the understanding concepts related to multiculturalism in primary education by teachers and administrators due to increasing number of immigrants from other countries who come to Cyprus for a number of various reasons.
As such, the changes in population are reflected in the education and should be adequately approach. In fact, the changes and necessity of their appropriate treatment with regard to the attitude and awareness of educators about the concepts of multiculturalism are the main reasons for this investigation.
Bigelow, Wesely, and Opsahl (2009), “Multicultural education in a K-12 modern language department: Reconciling the professional development experience” focuses on the analysis of changes in language department in terms of implementation of a multicultural curriculum design.
The multicultural curriculum development initiative is the context of the research where educators find themselves in the conditions of changing curriculum with regard to the necessity to assess the achievements of learners.
As such, the study is aimed at analyzing the response of teachers to the multicultural curriculum development initiative in terms of their professional development experience and changing conditions in American schools.
Results of the Articles
The results of the article by Eteokleous and Christodoulou (2010) “The process of multicultural education in a centralized and homogeneous educational system” conclude that the Cypriot teachers should be more aware of the multicultural and intercultural education issues whereas the official policies and regulations by the Cyprus Ministry of Education should be aimed at developing the multicultural awareness of educators and students to ensure that all students are treated in accordance with international standards.
As such, the authors suggest special teacher training programs to be incorporated and certain curriculum design features to be implemented, such as grouping of foreign language students for induction into mainstream schooling.
The results of the article by Bigelow, Wesely, and Opsahl (2009), “Multicultural education in a K-12 modern language department: Reconciling the professional development experience” included analysis of limitations and the focus on the importance of multicultural education issues.
The article expanded on the perception of the foreign language teachers in terms of multicultural education and necessity of adjusting the curriculum design to changing needs of students with regard to the attitude of teachers and their teaching experience, including multiculturalism.
Critique of Articles
Research questions/ hypothesis
The research question in the study by Eteokleous and Christodoulou (2010) includes investigation of the formal and informal frameworks of multicultural education in primary school in Cyprus with regard to official policy and unofficial position of educators and what they do in terms of multicultural education apart from official framework.
The study by Bigelow, Wesely, and Opsahl (2009) is aimed at discussing the integration of concepts of culture and multiculturalism in foreign language teaching frameworks and possibility and necessity of transforming the existing policies and curriculum designs in American schools with regard to multiculturalism issues in education.
Measurement and instrumentation
The analysis of data was performed by Eteokleous and Christodoulou (2010) using qualitative approach where the researchers assessed annual reports, announcements by the Ministry of Education of Cyprus, and interviews by officials and ordinary teachers who teach/taught foreign language students using “semi-structured, open-ended questions” while “A total of seven in-depth, face to face interviews was conducted, in two schools, in two different cities/ regions of the island” (p. 53).
The methodology used in the study by Bigelow, Wesely, and Opsahl (2009) included a qualitative research with “semi-structured interviews” for four participants and two other participants had taken “anonymous online questionnaires with open-ended questions” (p. 8); analysis of secondary sources was also a part of the research.
Validity and reliability processes
The validity and reliability of the researches cannot be assessed because the articles reviewed did not expose the samples of questionnaires; either they included contact information of the participants of the research and respondents whose interviews were the basis for the research and analysis.
However, the replication of the researches seems to be clear and contributing to the validity level of both articles and researches reflected in those.
Sampling procedures
The sampling procedures for the study written by Eteokleous and Christodoulou (2010) in the article “The process of multicultural education in a centralized and homogeneous educational system” are reflected in the methodology section where authors reflect the information about participants of the research and data collection procedures.
“Snowball sampling” (Eteokleous and Christodoulou, 2010, p. 52) was used to select participants to advocate for the formal framework on the multicultural and intercultural education.
“Greek-Cypriot primary school teachers” (p. 53) were the participants of the same research to support the informal framework issues while the purposive sampling was used in order to select participants who had some experience in foreign language teaching and wanted to take part in the research.
The sampling techniques are not indicated for the research reflected in the study by Bigelow, Wesely, and Opsahl (2009), while we know that the participants were selected via direct mailing and offering the participation.
Ethical considerations
Ethical considerations are not indicated in the article based on the research conducted by Eteokleous and Christodoulou (2010) whereas there is not a word about the personalities that responded to the interviews.
At the same time, there is a clear statement of ethical considerations in the article by Bigelow, Wesely, and Opsahl (2009) who informed the respondents about confidentiality issues while all the respondents had signed a written consent to participate in the interviews and the results are used in the research without naming the respondents and not mentioning the real name of the school in which the research was originally conducted.
Curriculum design
The curriculum design was mentioned as well as importance of its transformation in both articles reviewed while the structured curriculum design was not clearly indicated.
The study by Eteokleous and Christodoulou (2010) contained idea of differentiated teaching as the core issue whereas the study by Bigelow, Wesely, and Opsahl (2009) included the phases in accordance to which the initiative should take place.
References
Bigelow, M., Wesely, P., & Opsahl, L. (2009). Multicultural education in a K-12 modern language department: Reconciling the professional development experience. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 11(2), 1-17.
Eteokleous, N., & Christodoulou, N. (2010). The process of multicultural education in a centralized and homogeneous educational system. Problems of Education in the 21st Century, 21, 47-63.